Kate Livingstone: It’s irre-spoon-sible not to clear up

Kate Livingstone

Well perhaps if it had just been one of the offending articles it would have been all right, but it wasn’t. It was a whole sink filled with them.

Some people seem to think the tidy up fairy will deal with it

It seems dear reader, that some people don’t believe in clearing up after themselves.

Well at work the other week some of us i.e. the ones who regularly have to do the clearing up, decided to rebel.

It’s a simple task. You take a teaspoon out of the cutlery drawer, you measure out coffee or sugar into a mug, you add boiling water and milk if required then stir said mug.

Then comes the tricky bit for many people. You hold the teaspoon under a tap of hot water before removing and wiping with a tea towel. After that open the cutlery drawer – remember, the place where you found the teaspoon, then put it back and close drawer. Simple.

But oh no, not for many in our workplace – and after chatting with friends it seems we’re not alone. Lots of places are the same.

Rather than take these few simple steps what do the culprits do? Drop the teaspoon in the sink for someone else to wash, dry and put away.

To say it makes my blood boil is an understatement.

And don’t get me started about the coffee and sugar grains left across the work surface or the crumbs from their sandwiches or the blobs of soup they spill as they remove their dish from the microwave.

But some people seem to think that the tidy up fairy will deal with it, and until now she had been. But recently the tidy up fairy decided to go on strike!

She did leave one teaspoon in the drawer, but removed all the rest “for safekeeping”.

On the Monday morning, you should have seen the reaction.

They all had to wash and dry the sole utensil before using it ... and they weren’t happy.

Hopefully it taught them all a lesson and for a little while it had. But needless to say all the teaspoons were eventually returned and they were soon as bad as ever.

Why can’t people show a bit of respect?

But then a quick glance at some desks gives you the answer. Papers strewn everywhere, half-eaten bags of crisps, unwashed cups – including ones with teaspoons in them!

Now I’m not the most houseproud or tidiest person in the world, but I do believe that if there is order around you then it makes it easier to work – however, I’m beginning to feel I’m in the minority.